IELTS Cue Card Sample 474 - Describe someone you know who is famous

Describe someone you know who is famous.

Please say:

who this person is

how you know him/her

how long have you known him/her

and explain how he/she is famous.

Sample Answer 1: My uncle, Oliver, is a professor of our local college and he is quite popular in our town. Not that he is a national celebrity, but he is very famous in our area and I am proud of being his nephew. Instead of talking about a nationally famous person, I would prefer to talk about my uncle.

He is my favourite uncle and I like him for his amiable behaviours and talent. He is a kind-hearted and benevolent man who is around 45 years old now. Since he is my father’s only brother and was very close to us, I know him my whole life. Personally, I am quite attached to this uncle and we often play chess together or enjoy movies in a theatre.

As far as I recall, he has always been famous in our town. He is known to his student as a talented math professor, to his colleagues he is an excellent person, to us, he is a great mentor and to others, he is a helpful and kind person. However, his fame extended beyond our city area for his achievement of a national award as the best math book writer. His book is used in grade seven as a national textbook and this single achievement has made him famous among many literary and educated societies in the country. He was once been in the headline of many national daily newspapers which I still remember very clearly.

As far as I know, he is kind of an introvert and not after fame or popularity. He has very little interest in money or personal achievements. I had many long discussions with him and I have come into the decision that he leads an exemplary life and he is quite a happy person. Like many other famous people he has no desire for personal achievements and his good deeds and talent have earned him respects and popularity. When people find out that I am his nephew they treat me differently and this single aspect clearly demonstrates how popular and respected he really is.

Model Answer 2: Fame does not come fast, rather it takes time, dedication and hard work. The people who have been famous, are sincere and hard workers. My cousin, Ali Karimi is also a famous person in my land, Iran. He is a footballer.

Ali Karimi is my maternal cousin and lives with his parents. He is now a popular footballer and midfielder in position. He is set to play in the 2018 FIFA World Cup as part of Irani football team. He had a great career in this short span of time. Currently, he is playing with Croatian club Dinamo Zagreb. He was keen to play football since his early age and finally after 2010, he started shining in his career as a footballer. He signed with Sepahan, a football club in 2010 and played there in under-19. Karimi also played many leagues at home and abroad and thus he got selected for the national team of Iran for FIFA World Cup.

I know him since my childhood. In fact, he is my cousin and used to live the next door of us in the same city in Iran. He was brilliant in academic studies and loved playing football. But he was troubled with my uncle as he did not want his son to be a footballer. So, often Karimi had to experience anger from his father on his football issues. But later, the attitude of my uncle towards football was changed to a great extent when he sensed the success of his son. In fact, he realised his mistakes that Karimi owns the potentials to be a great footballer. When uncle realised the issue, he helped Karimi in all possible ways.

Karimi is four years senior to me. He was born in 1994 and I was born in 1999. So, as per the calculation, Karimi is 22 now and I am 17. But age was not a barrier for us to form a very good relationship. Both of us share a strong bond and the bond is existing even today. He is a very careful brother for me and takes a good care of almost all of my issues. He loves me as he loved his own sister. Though he is famous now across the country, he is amicable in his personal life and maintains a good relation with everyone regardless of his familiarity with them or not. Usually, celebrities are reluctant to have a socialisation with the ordinary people but Karimi is different from them.

Karimi had to struggle a lot to gain his current position. His childhood was filled with obstacles. He was repressed from his family, especially his father did not want him to be a footballer. Rather he was instructed to be a scholar and then finally possess over their family business. But the liberal mind of Karimi was unable to follow the traditional ways of life. He wanted the changes and take challenges. So, he tried hard to be a footballer. He started playing with the local clubs and finally got the chance to appear before the limelight. In this year, he has joined at Dinamo Zagreb and he is supposed to play for the club for next five years. He is rich, he is famous but he is simple in his lifestyle. Hope he would be more successful in the coming days.

Part 3: Two-way Discussion:

Q. Do you want to become famous?

Q. What kind of people can become famous in your country?

Q. What are the advantages and disadvantages of being famous?

Q. What do you think of the privacy of a well-known person?

Q. Would you be influenced by the well-known persons in TV commercials?

Q. What do you think of the relationship between a well-known person and advertising?